Chapter 48 – The Youth’s Spirit Prevails

“Quick, quick! Lu Shiyi, you damn well better make me proud!” Zuo Yuesheng had his sleeves rolled up to his shoulders, jumping up and down, his face ferocious as he half-threatened, half-encouraged, “If you can pluck that peony, forget one White Peony Flower Slip, even if you want to take a young lady out to climb a tower or go boating tomorrow, I won’t say a word!”

“Don’t rush me, don’t rush me. Don’t be so noisy.”

Lu Jing was sweating, chewing on the end of his brush, scratching his head, and racking his brains.

He had already written three poems, which had passed six, nine, and eleven rounds respectively. He seemed to be getting more courageous with each setback.

To request the Heavenly Maiden to receive a slip, one could only write. Among the three who had crowded onto the corridor to see the Heavenly Maiden, Zuo Yuesheng was a “vulgar person” with the stench of copper in his bones. Monk Budu’s calligraphy was excellent, but unfortunately, he could only write Buddhist verses. That left only this kid Lu Jing, who could compose a few sour poems.

“Why is Benefactor Zuo so generous today?”

Monk Budu was drooling over the idea of climbing a tower and going boating. He had a mind to write a few verses himself, but to talk about Buddhism and a clear heart and few desires in a pleasure quarter, he was afraid he would be beaten out directly…

“Yeah,” Lu Jing asked, taking a moment from his busy work, “Fatty Zuo, your attitude changed pretty quickly, huh? Are you really blinded by lust?”

You see, just now when the three of them were leaning on the railing watching Heavenly Maiden Lian, Zuo Yuesheng still felt that the Heavenly Maiden was good-looking, but if he had to spend thousands of taels of gold just to spend a night with this woman, he would rather go hug a piece of wood to sleep. Fortunately, it was quite noisy around them at the time, and everyone’s attention was on the Heavenly Maiden, otherwise, they wouldn’t be writing poems now… a hot-blooded young hero with lust on the brain would be enough for them to deal with.

How did it happen that in the blink of an eye, Zuo Yuesheng cared more about whether the Heavenly Maiden would accept the slip than Lu Jing, the romantic young master?

He even put on a “a thousand gold is nothing to be sorry for” posture.

It was more shocking than the sun rising in the west.

“Damn it,” Zuo Yuesheng cursed, pointing across the way. “See that guy who looks like a green bamboo pole? I don’t care about anyone else, but if you dare to let that kid steal the show, I’ll strangle you.”

Lu Jing and Monk Budu followed his finger and saw a young man in green robes standing by the railing, holding a wolf-hair brush, looking like he was deep in thought. The young man in green was quite handsome, but his eyebrows were thick and black, set very low, and his eyes were slightly sunken, giving him a somewhat gloomy look.

“Who’s that kid? He’s quite the poser.”

Lu Jing asked.

“Grand Elder Ying’s grandson, Ying Yuqiao,” Zuo Yuesheng said murderously. “Sooner or later, I’m going to stuff this turtle grandson into the eye of the sea.”

The nearby Monk Budu said, “Eh, that name sounds a bit familiar… I think I’ve heard it before.”

“He got lucky and made it to thirteenth on the Heavenly Pride Rankings of the immortal sects,” Zuo Yuesheng said reluctantly. “Of course you’ve heard of him.”

“Oh, oh, oh!”

Monk Budu had a sudden realization and slapped his thigh.

“I remember now, wasn’t he the one who got kicked off the stage by Taiyi’s Junior Sister Song at the immortal sects’ Dao discussion conference that year?”

Monk Budu “unintentionally” shouted the last sentence so loudly that it drowned out a blue-robed young master’s poetry recitation. More than half of the Qin Tower could hear his booming voice.

Crack.

Ying Yuqiao, who was standing by the railing across the way, trying his best to strike a dashing pose, crushed the purple-hair brush in his hand. His two sword-like eyebrows twitched, and he almost drew his saber and charged at the damn bald donkey who was bringing up a sore subject.

The blue-robed young master whose recitation had been interrupted was about to angrily confront Lu Jing.

But after taking just two steps, his companion poked his head out, his expression suddenly changed, and he immediately tugged on his sleeve and whispered a few words. The blue-robed young master’s anger instantly vanished, and with a slip of his foot, he silently turned back and sat down in a carved chair.

Exceptionally broad-minded.

He had to be broad-minded!

At this moment, the entire Qin Tower was in an uproar.

Previously, Zuo Yuesheng and his group hadn’t made much noise, and everyone was too busy watching the Heavenly Maiden’s debut to notice them. Now that Monk Budu had shouted, everyone finally realized that several of the most famous profligates in the Twelve Continents were also at the Qin Tower tonight. The commotion was almost on par with the Heavenly Maiden’s first appearance.

The Buddhist Saint of the Buddhist Sect, the Young Master of Medicine Valley, and the Young Pavilion Master of the Mountain Sea Pavilion.

These were the profligates ranked second, fourth, and fifth on the Profligate Rankings!

Don’t think that it’s easy to get on this Profligate Rankings. To become a notorious scoundrel, it’s not enough to just have a bizarre character. If your parents aren’t powerful enough and your sect isn’t strong enough, as soon as your reputation for causing trouble spreads, you could be “eliminated for the good of the people” at any time. Therefore, those who hang high on the Profligate Rankings are all the most difficult to provoke second-generation scions of the immortal sects.

Thus, some people jokingly call this Profligate Rankings the “Avoidance Record.”

—Meaning, it tells you that although these people are scoundrels, you can’t afford to provoke them. If you want to punish evil and promote good, you should quickly find another target.

It’s just that these profligates were usually scattered across the world and rarely gathered together. Today, the Qin Tower didn’t know what kind of “good luck” it had to have three of them show up in a group…

If one more came, they could gather together to throw dice and chopsticks and turn the world upside down!

Lu Jing, Zuo Yuesheng, and Monk Budu were all battle-hardened veterans who had been in the public eye for years. Their skin was as thick as a turtle’s shell. Ying Yuqiao, across the way, was still a little uncomfortable being the center of attention, but the three of them acted as if nothing was wrong and continued to talk loudly.

“Ah!” Lu Jing seemed to have finally remembered something. “When I was in Medicine Valley, I heard Daoqing-jie say that your Mountain Sea Pavilion has a surnamed Ying who is the eternal number two. He challenges Lou Jiang every year and gets beaten to the ground every year.”

Smack.

Ying Yuqiao broke off a large piece of the Qin Tower’s railing, his face a kaleidoscope of colors, turning from green to red to purple.

This Ying Yuqiao was ranked thirteenth on the Heavenly Pride Rankings of the immortal sects and was considered a quite famous genius of his generation. Unfortunately, he was extremely arrogant and conceited. At the age of nineteen, he attended the immortal sects’ Dao discussion conference and declared that he would take the top spot. Taiyi’s Song Weiying sneered, didn’t even bother to draw her saber, and in a flash, got close and kicked him in the face, sending him off the stage.

That kick shattered Ying Yuqiao’s dream of becoming the champion of the immortal sects.

From then on, Ying Yuqiao refused to participate in the immortal sects’ Dao discussion conferences and settled for being a local tyrant in the Mountain Sea Pavilion… Who would have thought that after a few years of being a local tyrant, a guy named Lou, with the single name Jiang, would come to the Mountain Sea Pavilion.

The name “Second Ying” spread like wildfire.

These two incidents were Ying Yuqiao’s taboos, and usually, no one dared to mention them. But who were Lu Jing and Monk Budu? Two of the few profligates in the world! Why would they be afraid of him?

“Second Master Ying,” Lu Jing, who was well-versed in the art of killing with words, put down his brush, stood up with a grin, and bowed to Ying Yuqiao from afar. “I’ve long heard of your great name! Long heard of your great name!”

A round of snickers went through the tower.

Second Master Ying? Isn’t Eleventh Master Lu being a bit too disgusting?

Ying Yuqiao felt a vein in his head snap. He was so angry he was about to draw his sword and leap over the railing.

“Brother Ying, don’t be angry.”

A person next to him closed his fan and pressed it on his shoulder. This person had a face like jade, wore a thin gold hat, and was dressed in purple silk pleated trousers, looking radiant.

“How can a frog in a well speak of the sea? How can a summer insect speak of ice?”

This person’s voice was not loud, but it clearly reached everyone’s ears—this was not something an ordinary cultivator could do. This man in the gold hat and purple clothes had a very high cultivation.

Ying Yuqiao calmed down, “You’re right.”

The two of them smiled at each other, a great deal of unspoken understanding passing between them.

Lu Jing turned his head and asked Zuo Yuesheng, “Who is this effeminate dandy?”

“How should I know?” Zuo Yuesheng rolled his eyes. “Where did the eternal number two find a number three to prop himself up? This Young Pavilion Master is busy with a myriad of things every day, how could I possibly know.”

Ying Yuqiao and the purple-robed young master’s smiles both stiffened.

“This fatty is quite insolent,” the purple-robed young master squeezed out through his teeth, then smiled again. “I am Taiyu Shi, a guest at the Mountain Sea Pavilion at the invitation of your esteemed father, Pavilion Master Zuo. Young Pavilion Master Zuo, I have long heard that you were in exile and out of touch with news. It is normal.”

Taiyu.

This was truly a case of enemies meeting on a narrow road.

Monk Budu’s prayer beads paused, Lu Jing’s brush froze, and Zuo Yuesheng’s hand in his sleeve clenched into a fist.

Inside the private room, Chou Bodeng’s hand, which was pouring wine, paused slightly.

Lu Jing shot Zuo Yuesheng a look, as if to say, “You, Fatty Zuo, your father is a turncoat who collaborates with the enemy?”

Zuo Yuesheng cursed, “Damn,” then said with a playful smile, “So it’s Young Master Taiyu, a rare guest! I wonder if your third uncle is well these days, Brother Taiyu?”

Taiyu Shi’s smile vanished.

Zuo Yuesheng’s smile did not change, “I have long admired your third uncle’s great name, Yuesheng. When Brother Taiyu is ready to return home, please help me bring a few small gifts to your esteemed uncle.”

Lu Jing was shocked, “Isn’t that too polite? How could his uncle accept a gift from a junior!”

“It’s nothing valuable, nothing valuable,” Zuo Yuesheng was exceptionally modest. “Just a bundle of paper money, ten copper coins, a small token of my esteem.”

At this point, the more astute people had already sensed that things were getting out of control.

Taiyu Shi’s third uncle was named Taiyu Luan.

A thousand years ago, Taiyu Luan was promoted to the number one sword cultivator of the Hundred Clans. Full of ambition, he was preparing to leave the mountain with his sword and pay a visit to Taiyi to compete with Ye Anxue of the Flying Light Sword. But halfway there, he was killed by a single slash of a saber… For the next thousand years, whenever storytellers in the folk tales spoke of the head of the Ten Shamans of the Southern Borderlands, there would always be a chapter titled “Saber Slashes Taiyu to Forge a Legend.” Taiyu Luan was the first person Shi Wuluo killed after setting foot in the Central Lands, and also the starting point of his “enemy of gods and ghosts” reputation.

From then on, Taiyu Luan became famous throughout the world.

Unfortunately, neither Taiyu Luan himself, whose grave grass was already three meters high, nor the Taiyu Clan, would want this kind of “fame.” However, the folk tales were only told in private. When a member of the Hundred Clans was present, no one would dare to poke the Sky-Herder’s sore spot.

Now, Zuo Yuesheng was knowingly asking “Is your esteemed third uncle well,” and also wanted to send paper money as a “mere trifle”…

You didn’t need to look to know how ugly Taiyu Shi’s face would be.

The Qin Tower gradually fell silent.

Although it was just a verbal battle between a few juniors, the fact that it involved the Mountain Sea Pavilion, Medicine Valley, the Buddhist Sect, and the Taiyu Clan at the same time meant that it was no longer something an ordinary person could interfere in.

Taiyu Shi’s gaze swept over Zuo Yuesheng, Lu Jing, and Monk Budu, his eyes gloomy, and his right hand slowly gripped the hilt of his sword.

Beside him, Ying Yuqiao’s eyebrows twitched, and he thought to himself, this is not good.

If this blew up, he would also be held responsible afterwards. But he had spent a great deal of effort these past few days to get closer to Taiyu Shi. If he intervened now, all his previous efforts would be wasted… For a moment, Ying Yuqiao was in a dilemma, and could only curse Zuo Yuesheng, this bastard, in his heart.

Monk Budu took a step forward, intentionally or unintentionally shielding Lu Jing and Zuo Yuesheng behind him.

Zheng, zheng, zheng—

The sudden, erratic sound of a zither interrupted the tense atmosphere.

“The Qin and Wei are in full flow, bearing orchids.”

“The Qin and Wei are clear, full and abundant.”

Like cold water flowing over white stones under a pine tree, a low and gentle song brushed past everyone’s ears. The melancholy in the voice plucked at the strings of everyone’s hearts, not too heavily, not too lightly.

The Heavenly Maiden, who had been sitting quietly on the white jade platform, rose with her zither and slightly tilted her head up.

The Qin Tower was like a circular ring, shrinking layer by layer, finally narrowing to a single hole. The moonlight shone through the hole and fell on her face like a veil of snow-colored clouds. Her eyes were like water, like mist, hazy and clear and desolate. When you looked into those eyes, you would be reminded of all the things you had desperately sought but could never reach… There were so many peerless beauties in the world, and the Heavenly Maiden of the Qin Tower was not necessarily the most beautiful one. People called the Heavenly Maiden of the Qin Tower the “number one beauty in the world” not because of her appearance, but because every Heavenly Maiden had a certain quality that made people fall head over heels for them.

There was once a female cultivator from an immortal sect who was confident in her peerless beauty and was indignant that people regarded the Heavenly Maiden of the Qin Tower as the “number one beauty.” So she traveled thousands of miles to compete with the Heavenly Maiden in beauty.

After seeing the Heavenly Maiden, the female cultivator stared at her for a long time, and finally said:

Even I am moved with pity, let alone the men of the world.

“You gentlemen have come to the Qin Tower, not for a rendezvous?” the Heavenly Maiden asked softly. Her voice was like raindrops falling into a lake, creating circles of ripples. In the ripples, all strife was dissolved. Her shimmering gaze made one feel that it was a sin to keep such a beauty waiting.

“The Heavenly Maiden is right.”

Taiyu Shi stared at her, infatuated, and bowed with a smile.

“Amitabha, how virtuous, how virtuous.”

Monk Budu pressed his palms together and bowed slightly.

“The peony’s time is short, but what of time itself?” the Heavenly Maiden lowered her head, casually plucking the zither strings a few times, and said softly, “You are all men of outstanding talent. Would you be so gracious as to answer A-Lian’s Twelve Questions of the White Flower?”

“Since the Heavenly Maiden has invited, how dare we not accept?” Taiyu Shi smiled elegantly.

“Amitabha.”

Monk Budu had just chanted the Buddha’s name when he was pushed aside by Zuo Yuesheng.

“If you want an answer, you’ll get one.”

Zuo Yuesheng’s face was a mask of insolence, making the people around him twitch their eyes and curse this vulgar Zuo scoundrel for being unromantic. The romantic Lu Jing put his hands behind his back and frantically gestured to Chou Bodeng inside… Whether they could stomp on that turtle grandson Taiyu’s face was all up to you, Young Master Chou!

Chou Bodeng reclined on the soft couch, the flickering candlelight falling on his face.